VANCOUVER, Sept. 16, 2019 /PRNewswire/ - Village Farms
International, Inc. ("Village Farms" or the "Company") (TSX: VFF)
(NASDAQ: VFF) today announced its 50%-owned joint venture for
large-scale, low-cost, high-quality cannabis production, Pure
Sunfarms, has begun shipping branded dried cannabis products to the
Ontario Cannabis Store ("OCS"), for retail sale in Ontario.
Pure Sunfarms expects its first products to be available at
licensed retailers in Ontario and
through the OCS website this month.
Village Farms also announced that Pure Sunfarms has formally
launched its brand and introduced eight strains of dried cannabis
flower for the Canadian recreational market. More information
about Pure Sunfarms' brand and products is available on Pure
Sunfarms' new web site at www.puresunfarms.com.
"Introducing the Pure Sunfarms brand today to Canadians is a
culmination of our team's efforts, and we hope consumers see the
passion and care our people have worked hard to bring to life,"
said Mandesh Dosanjh, President and CEO, Pure Sunfarms.
"British Columbia has a reputation
for growing some of the best cannabis in the world, and we are
proud to introduce a suite of products which will continue to
celebrate this legacy. Our scale, along with the team's deep
agricultural roots and steadfast dedication to craftmanship, has
allowed us to cultivate great-quality products at an approachable
price-point. In this evolving industry, we hope Canadians will come
to know the quality and consistency of Pure Sunfarms' products and
love it as much as we do."
"Today's announcement marks another significant milestone as
Pure Sunfarms establishes itself as a premier vertically integrated
supplier of branded cannabis products to the Canadian recreational
market," said Michael DeGiglio, CEO,
Village Farms International. "Already one of the most
profitable Canadian cannabis producers, Pure Sunfarms will now
benefit from higher margin sales as it launches its products in
Canada's largest province, home to
nearly 40% of the country's population."
Mr. DeGiglio added, "Pure Sunfarms was born out of Village
Farms' rich history and decades of experience in large-scale,
low-cost vertically integrated precision agricultural. We are
proud to see our heritage reflected in the Pure Sunfarms brand,
which we are confident will resonate with the Canadian
consumer. Leveraging both its high-quality product and
low-cost production, Pure Sunfarms will be uniquely and
advantageously positioned in the Canadian market."
The Pure Sunfarms brand was built around the philosophy of
'plants and people first,' expressing a long-standing relationship
and deep appreciation for cannabis across Canada's west coast. It was designed to
reflect the team's unique and diverse agricultural experience with
not just cannabis, but other crops like tomatoes and peppers,
sharing the story of cannabis from a different perspective.
Pure Sunfarms' wide collection of strains offers high-quality
product in potency, flavour, and consistency to meet the tastes and
needs of consumers and retailers alike. Cultivars such as
Afghan Kush, selected for its history and potency, and White Rhino,
chosen for its upfront aromatics, will be two of the first strains
coming to market. The current collection also includes Critical
Kali Mist, Hash Plant, Headband, Island Honey, Purple Sun God and
Pure Sun CBD.
In addition to Ontario, Pure
Sunfarms expects its first products to be available at licensed
retailers and online in British
Columbia in the coming weeks. As previously announced,
on September 6, 2019 Pure Sunfarms
received from Health Canada the amendment to its license permitting
it to sell and distribute packaged, Pure Sunfarms-branded dried
cannabis products directly to provincial/territorial wholesalers
and authorized private retailers in accordance with
provincial/territorial frameworks in Canada (sometimes referred to as a "packaging
license"), effective immediately. Pure Sunfarms has supply
agreements in place with the Ontario Cannabis Retail Corporation
(the "OCRC", operating as the Ontario Cannabis Store) and the
British Columbia Liquor Distribution Branch (the "BCLDB").
Combined, Ontario and British Columbia comprise more than half of
Canada's population. Pure
Sunfarms continues to advance discussions with other provincial
distributors for potential supply agreements to further expand its
presence in the Canadian cannabis market.
About Village Farms International, Inc.
Village Farms
is one of the largest and longest-operating vertically integrated
greenhouse growers in North
America and the only publicly traded greenhouse produce
company in Canada. Village Farms
produces and distributes fresh, premium-quality produce with
consistency 365 days a year to national grocers in the U.S. and
Canada from more than nine million
square feet of Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) greenhouses
in British Columbia and
Texas, as well as from its partner
greenhouses in British Columbia,
Ontario and Mexico. The
Company is now leveraging its 30 years of experience as a
vertically integrated grower for the rapidly emerging global
cannabis opportunity through its 50% ownership of British Columbia-based Pure Sunfarms Corp.,
one of the single largest cannabis growing operations in the
world. The Company also intends to pursue opportunities to
become a vertically integrated leader in the U.S. hemp-derived CBD
market, subject to compliance with all applicable U.S. federal and
state laws, Village Farms has established two joint ventures,
Village Fields Hemp and Arkansas Valley Green and Gold Hemp, for
outdoor hemp cultivation and CBD extraction and is pursuing
controlled environment hemp production at a portion of its
Texas greenhouse operations, which
total 5.7 million square feet of production area.
Cautionary Language
Certain statements contained in
this press release constitute forward-looking information within
the meaning of applicable securities laws ("forward-looking
statements"). Forward-looking statements may relate to the
Company's future outlook or financial position and anticipated
events or results and may include statements regarding the
financial position, business strategy, budgets, litigation,
projected production, projected costs, capital expenditures,
financial results, taxes, plans and objectives of or involving the
Company. Particularly, statements regarding future results,
performance, achievements, prospects or opportunities for the
Company, Pure Sunfarms, the greenhouse vegetable industry or the
cannabis and hemp industries are forward-looking statements. In
some cases, forward-looking information can be identified by such
terms as "outlook", "may", "might", "will", "could", "should",
"would", "occur", "expect", "plan", "anticipate", "believe",
"intend", "estimate", "predict", "potential", "continue", "likely",
"schedule", "objectives", or the negative or grammatical variation
thereof or other similar expressions concerning matters that are
not historical facts.
Although the forward-looking statements contained in this press
release are based upon assumptions that management believes are
reasonable based on information currently available to management,
there can be no assurance that actual results will be consistent
with these forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements
necessarily involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties, many
of which are beyond the Company's control, that may cause the
Company's or the industry's actual results, performance,
achievements, prospects and opportunities in future periods to
differ materially from those expressed or implied by such
forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include,
among other things, the factors contained in the Company's filings
with U.S. and Canadian securities regulators, including as detailed
in the Company's annual information form and management's
discussion and analysis for the year-ended December 31, 2018.
When relying on forward-looking statements to make decisions,
the Company cautions readers not to place undue reliance on these
statements, as forward-looking statements involve significant risks
and uncertainties and should not be read as guarantees of future
results, performance, achievements, prospects and opportunities.
The forward-looking statements made in this press release only
relate to events or information as of the date on which the
statements are made in this press release. Except as required by
law, the Company undertakes no obligation to update or revise
publicly any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new
information, future events or otherwise.
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SOURCE Village Farms International, Inc.